Decision Time

[jimjam81]

Hi all.

First post from long time lurker, looking to buy either a 6990 or MSI GTX 580 Hydrogen in the next few days.

I know there are no reviews of the 6990 yet, but has what are the MSI Hydrogen cards like? I know they are water-cooled but does it require any kind of maintenance like a water-cooled CPU? Also are the speeds the same as this review?

http://www.techpowerup.com/139781/MSI-GeForce-GTX-580-HydroGen-OC-Priced.html

Or are they the same as OC description?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-118-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812.

My systems specs are thus
Asus P6T Deluxe V1 x58, I7 920 @ 3.4Ghz, 6GB DDR G Skill @ 1600, ATI 5870 1GB, 750 GB Samsung HDD, Tagan 1300W Piperock, Cosmos S Case. Currently game at 1680 x 1050 on 22" Samsung T220

I know at this resolution these cards will be total overkill but I do hope to upgrade my monitor soon plus I will be able to claim VAT back and hopefully get around £130-150 for the 5870 if I sell now. I also play a heavily modded Oblivion which in some area's gives an fps of around 15-17 which is not the best and also hopefully Darth mod if/when it comes out for Shogun 2 with 500+ man units.

I have thought about Crossfire/SLI but my motherboard has 2 PCI express slots really close to my PSU and I am worried about the heat. There is one PCI express slot in the middle of my board which has nice airflow thus I would prefer single GPU solution.

Currently leaning towards sticking with ATI/AMD but GTX 580 does look an amazing card.

 

[jimjam81]

Thanks for the reply

Tempted to wait for the 590 too, but could be £100 more, no one knows the release date/stock levels etc and if it's the same or worse than 6990, stock could suddenly become hard to get hold of.

 

[jimjam81]

The 580 comes with a pre-installed block and thus will need to be installed in to a proper water cooling loop which will need the same maintenance as any other loop.

Thanks for the reply, guess that knocks this card on the head as my system is not watercooled.

Guess it's the 6990 then, hoping OC don't sell out before i get the order in tommorow morning.

 

[jimjam81]

Hi, what brand would be better, HIS or Sapphire?

Any difference or just the brand name, and £20?

I noticed that HIS has the better warranty according to the warranty thread, as long as bought from OC this is what I am leaning towards.

I have also noticed the XFX brand, are they any better?

Cheers

 

[jimjam81]

Took the plunge, ordered, should have it tommorow.

I hope it does not turn out like my last release day purchase of £500+ which was an Atari Jaguar imported from USA

 

[jimjam81]

I will keep an eye out for that, will give it a good run over the weekend, will let people know if any problems.